The Ghana Grid Company Limited (GRIDCO) has issued a warning that if its cash flow issues are not immediately resolved, a steady supply of electricity may be compromised.
The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) and Northern Electricity Distribution Company (NEDCo) owe them GHC2.7 billion, according to the company’s managing director Ebenezer Kofi Essienyi, who made the announcement on Monday during a press briefing.
GRIDCo claims that the debtors don’t have a specific plan in place to pay off the debt.
“From our last count, I think it is about 2.7 billion – ECG and NEDCo. The debt impacts our operations …it is an issue that is the reason government makes a conscious effort to find some resources for us to do the investment that we require. It is all with the understanding that this legacy debt will have to be addressed in a strategic way over time,” he said.
He added that there is a bulk of compensation that GRIDCo ought to pay to land owners who have leased out their lands to be used.
The Managing Director said the current state of the economy could worsen if there is a cut in electricity supply.
“.…tough economy not only the availability of fuel and electricity, the economy is tough, but if we don’t have these too, it will worsen the situation,” he stated.
The Grid Company is also spending over $200,000 to repair each destroyed power tower by illegal miners or ‘galamseyers’.
According to the Managing Director, some of their metal lines have been cut by scrap dealers, making power supply difficult.
“Galamsey cost is huge, some of them instead of one tower, we need to leave the tower place, get contractors to spend maybe $200,000 to insert an additional tower which under normal circumstances we shouldn’t have.
“When they do and the tower collapses, the cost of unserved energy, because industries will go down. Those are all big costs that we easily don’t quantify but it is really a challenge to us,” he said.
The Assemblyman for Pankorono Estate Electoral Area in the Ashanti Region, Nana Kwadwo Pimpim, says the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) is to blame for
He said officials of for miscalculating the positioning of an electric pole in the middle of the Pankorono Estate-B line road.
Over the weekend, a video of an electric pole mounted in the middle of a road went viral on social media.
He admitted the video came from his area, adding that the poles were two but one had been removed.
The Assemblyman laid the blame on the officers of the ECG while reacting to the issue on the Ghana Yensom morning show hosted by Odehyeeba Kofi Essuman on Accra 100.5 FM on Tuesday, January 31, 2023.
He said the ECG officers might have miscalculated the positioning of the pole in the area because the roads were not properly demarcated.
He explained that for sometime, the area had been lagging in terms of roads, but that it can now boast of 80 per cent roads under construction.
Because of the bad state of the road some of the electric poles to supply electricity to the home of residents were mounted without recourse to the proper demarcation of the road.
He said the electric pole emerged because of the construction of the road by Synohdro.
He said this would not have been an issue if the road had not been constructed by the government.
He was quick to add that an emergency meeting has been held between the contractor and the officials from the ECG for the road map for the pole to be moved from the middle of the road.
He gave the assurance that the pole will surely be moved from the middle of the road by the close of this week.
He took the opportunity to thank the Member of Parliament for Tafo-Pankorono Constituency, Ekow Vincent Assifuah, and the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for Old Tafo Municipal Assembly, Lord Inusah Lansah, for the roles they played in having roads in the area constructed.
The Electricity Company of Ghana is undertaking planned maintenance works and as such some areas in Accra will witness power outage today.
According to the ECG in a public notice, power would be out from 9am to 4pm.
Areas to be affected by the company’s maintenance works include; Teshie Tsuibleoo, Teshie ultimate, Adenta P&T land, Shalom Estate, Teshie first junction, Teshie guess inn, Focus Hospital, Mr Smith, Teshie Camp 2.
The others are Pantang Village, Abokobi, Dodowa town, Appolonia, Saasabi, Oyibi and Adomrebe.
Meanwhile, the ECG has apologised to Ghanaians for the inconvenience caused. It has however promised improved service delivery after its maintenance works.
A swift intervention by the Ghana National Fire Service (GNFS) on Wednesday managed to save two electrical poles owned by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) at Asankrangwa in the Western Region from ruins.
On January 11, 2023, about three electrical poles caught fire due to a bushfire at Kingston Town off the Asankra Odumase Road.
Firefighters from Asankrangwa Fire Station arrived at the scene and doused the flames in approximately 17 minutes.
The officers managed to rescue two electrical poles. Unfortunately, the third was burnt to a crisp while some parcels of vegetation were destroyed.
In a report on Facebook, the Ghana National Fire Service revealed that the cause of the incident is unknown and investigations are underway.
Meanwhile, the Service is also looking into a fire incident at the RANA MOTORS off the graphic road in Accra on Tuesday, January 10.
A two-storey building was destroyed due to the fire outbreak. The ground floor and part of the first floor used as a warehouse, four apartments, two each on the first and second floors and their contents were totally burnt.
However, a warehouse containing an unspecified amount of rubber products including car tyres and adjoining buildings including a workshop and a Toyota Company garage and showroom were salvaged.
Seven water pumps were utilised by the GNFS to quench the flames. During the operation, a firefighter sustained injury and was transported to the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital for medical attention.
Per reports from the Service, the said officer is currently in a stable condition.
To help ensure accident-free holiday celebrations, the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has urged the general public to think carefully about using electrical power sparingly.
Mr Richard Mac-Ekor, Ho District Manager of the Company said the hazards associated with improper electricity were more likely during the period and could ruin the celebrations for entire households and communities, therefore all must help ensure safe consumption.
The District Manager made the call while sending season’s greetings through the Ghana News Agency (GNA) to customers and the public.
“We have to manage our celebrations during the yuletide and be mindful that electricity can shorten our happiness if we don’t follow principles,” he said, reminding us of the need to switch off all gadgets and appliances when leaving homes and other premises.
He said the ECG was working round the clock throughout the period to ensure uninterrupted supply, and that although major offices took their annual breaks, vital sections including the faults and the various vending points remained operational.
The District Manager wished the public a happy season and advised to limit alcohol consumption to be able to “identify electrical hazards and avoid them.
“Despite a challenging year, we have hope because of His (Christ) birth,” he said.
Mrs Patience Amuzu, Volta Regional President of the Power Queens Club of the ECG, also called to “make merry with caution,” and said women should ensure electrical appliances received the needed attention to prevent hazards and accidents.
The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has finally restored electricity to inhabitants of Nuaso in the Lower Manya Krobo Municipality of the Eastern Region after nearly five months of no power.
The residents had over the months lamented over the lack of electricity in the community after a joint team of ECG and military personnel disconnected the community on August 22, three days after power was restored to the Krobo area after a month of total outage over the installation of prepaid meters.
A clash between soldiers and some agitated residents during the disconnection led to eight residents sustaining gunshot wounds.
The affected customers bemoaned that the situation was hindering economic, social and domestic activities in the community.
Several engagements involving the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for the area, Simon Kwaku Tetteh, the National Security Ministry, the Energy Ministry, the Assemblyman for the area, Hon Samuel Torgbor, management of the ECG and some prominent personalities in the community were held towards restoring power to the area.
Currently, prepaid meters are being installed in various households in the community without any agitations in the final phase of the month-long controversial exercise in the Krobo area.
Some residents who spoke with GhanaWeb in an interview expressed relief at the restoration of the power supply to the neighbourhood.
They however lamented that their sources of livelihood were affected with many of them thrown out of business.
A hairdresser, Tettey Mercy Angmorkie said, “The light out affected our businesses but we are happy to power has been restored. We could not work because we rely on power for our work so we ended up sitting down without working.”
Another, Bernice Asimeh, a cold store operator said she was forced to close down her shop and only resumed work following the restoration of power to the community. “It affected us because I use the fridge to freeze my drinks so when we were in the dark it affected me so much.”
Bernice who said she initially opposed the prepaid meters said though she still prefers the postpaid meters, she was nevertheless ready to accept the new meters now. “We have nothing to say, we’re just there so when they bring it we’ll accept it,” she expressed.
According to her, she has lost many of her customers as a result and it would take her a long time to get them back.
A manager of a car washing bay, Francis Asimeh said all the 25 employees who worked at the facility before the outage became unemployed, forcing them to join other nearby washing bays to enable them to make ends meet.
He said though they were making sales of between Ghc150 and Ghc200 a day before the outage, they’re unable to make as many sales now as they notify their customers to return to their base for business.
The respondents however expressed their preparedness to accept the prepaid meters currently being rolled out in the community but called for further sensitization from the power distributors.
Assemblymember for Nuaso Old Town, Samuel Torgbor said the people were happy that power supply had been restored to the area and blamed the lack of understanding for the unfortunate incident.
On her part, the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) Tema Region, Miss Sakyiwaa Mensah said the company’s decision to restore power to the area followed an agreement reached from engagements with various stakeholders to safeguard ECG interests in the area.
“There had been ongoing discussions with various stakeholders, aimed at restoring power, safeguarding ECG property and ensuring that work can be carried out in a safe environment. The restoration is part of the consensus reached from these stakeholder engagements with chiefs, opinion leaders and management of ECG,” she said.
She furthered that the meter installation exercise has been completed at Nuaso New Town and currently progressing smoothly at Nuaso Old Town. “It has been smooth so far. ECG is appreciative of the cordial working environment which has enabled work to go on smoothly,” noted the PRO.
The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has announced that it will observe the statutory holidays during the Yuletide and New Year seasons.
The holidays will be observed on December 26 and 27, 2022, as well as January 2 and 9, 2023.
As such, ECG offices across the country will not be opened for business on the aforementioned dates to allow its staff to celebrate the holidays.
A public notice from the Company sighted by The Independent Ghana, however, advised its customers who would be in dire need of power to “purchase electricity credit through the ECG Mobile App or a private vending point.”
Meanwhile, prepaid users are encouraged to ensure they purchase enough power that will carry them through the Christmas and New Year holidays since ECG offices will be closed temporarily.
The Electricity Company of Ghana aside from informing Ghanaians of its recent initiative, also took advantage to wish all and sundry a happy holiday.
Over the years, there have been requests for the corporation to be sold to a strategic partner in order to improve its financial and operational condition.
However, according to John Mahama’s most recent idea, privatizing the electricity distribution firm will actually increase efficiency and strengthen its attempts to raise money.
“It is something that we need to look at again because ECG as state-owned enterprise is not able to collect its money efficiently, it needs some private sector injections,” John Mahama said.
“One of the things we need to do is to roll out prepaid meter as quickly as possible, because if you have a prepaid meter, nobody will come and read your meter and bring a bill and you won’t pay and all that…”
He continued, “…And so I do believe we must still seek the privatisation of the Electricity Company of Ghana, so that we can inject more investment into it, because some of that money was going to provide more money for prepaid meters and also improve efficiency of collection of bills.”
He believes the revenue performance of the power distribution company can be doubled as he is intent on buying the ECG to make it more profitable.
Speaking in an earlier interview on Pan African TV, Hassan Ayariga said he wants to purchase ECG in other to provide better services for all Ghanaians.
“They [Government] should sell ECG to me; I am ready to purchase the company. Even if they [Government] do not intend to sell the ECG, they should tell me how much revenue they intend to achieve every month.”
“…Government should sit with me on live television so we can bargain the cost of the ECG, how much they make and seek to achieve in revenue every month. I will give them two times the revenue amount and manage the ECG,” he earlier said.
He added that whatever revenue the government intends to rake in from the ECG, he [Hassan Ayariga] is willing to double the amount, should he be given the opportunity to purchase the company.
“If they want US$500 million a month, I will give them US$1 billion a month,” he added.
The Electricity Company of Ghana’s (ECG) William Boateng has suggested that prepaid meter users strive to purchase enough for their homes for the holiday season and beyond.
Speaking on Kumasi-based Abusua FM, Mr. Willliam Boateng stated that, “those of our customers who use prepaid meters should try and buy enough for their homes this Christmas and after”.
“Don’t buy with little money and say I will go and buy another during Christmas. That will cause discomfort because we will all go for Christmas break. Those who will be available for sales will be few,” he further cautioned.
“You know how much you consume so do well to buy enough otherwise these vendors may not open their shops for you to purchase power during the festive season. You may also have to join long queues at our various offices which will bring inconveniences,” William Boateng told Kojo Marfo on the show “Abusua Nkommo”.
Mr Boateng however, assured the public that, sales persons at the ECG offices will continue to work during the holidays so that customers who may troop in to their offices can have power to buy.
Customers of the Electricity Company of Ghana in the Lower Manya and Yilo Krobo Municipalities of the Eastern Region have expressed divergent experiences over the use of prepaid meters.
Backed by the military, most parts of the Krobo area have been successfully rolled onto the new meters by the ECG after several months of hostilities between the power distributors and their customers over the deployment of the meters.
Months after some communities have been rolled onto the new billing system, GhanaWeb interacted with some residents and business operators on their experiences with the meters.
For Georgina Ametepey Ghalley, the meter was installed at her shop in August 2022. A seamstress at Somanya said purchasing Ghc50 worth of credit is always enough to last her for over a month compared to her average monthly bill of Ghc 70 on the postpaid meters. To her, the meter has proven to be a better option as she’s in a position to monitor her consumption.
“My experience so far, the prepaid meter is okay, not like the postpaid. At times the bills that will come are very high at times too they say it’s a network problem so the prepaid is better,” she said. “Because I can check my balance, what I’ve used for the day and everything so I think the prepaid is okay.”
Having used this type of meter before, she had no fears prior to its deployment, contrary to the reservations of most people in the locality.
According to her, she still uses the same items and does not have cause to adjust their usage in any way.
Auntie Victoria Mamle, a waakye (rice and beans) seller and also a resident of Mampong had the meters installed for her some three months ago.
Admitting that she was one of many opponents to the introduction of the new meters, she said her reservations were over buying of credit, adding that her fears were being confirmed.
“We didn’t want it because of the credit you’ll buy,” she said. “If we had the old one, we can get the money to pay for the monthly bills but this one if you don’t have money today and it is finished, you’ll go off.”
Expressing her frustrations over the situation, Auntie Mamle complained that she buys about Ghc200 worth of credit in a month, twice her monthly bill on the postpaid meters. She said, “I think the old one is good because since I got this meter, if I buy the credit like Ghc50, I don’t even get one week and it’s finished so I think the old one is good because with the old one, in a month, I get a bill of between Ghc90 and Ghc100.”
Some customers however believe the ECG is using the new meters to defray its old bills.
Though the power consumer assured the residents that the old bills would not be passed onto the new meters, some of the residents believe the ECG is subtly defraying the existing bills on the old meters with the deduction of what it calls service charges.
According to them, the service charges of about 15% of the amount bought, are deducted with the remaining credit lasting them relatively shorter periods compared with the postpaid meters.
Auntie Doris Odonkor, a fishmonger at Ayikpala, a suburb of Kpong owns three meters in her house. She explained that the service charges being deducted were mere smokescreens behind which the Company hides to deduct the accumulated bills on her meters.
“When the meters were fixed, they were each credited with Ghc10.00. The ten cedis ran out after three days and I bought an additional Ghc100. Out of this Ghc15 was deducted,” she said.
According to her, the charges were explained as processing and maintenance fees, adding that these deductions were repeated when she returned to buy more credit.
The elderly woman furthered that her fears that she would struggle to understand how the meter works due to her poor education were manifest.
Assemblyman for Kpong Ahudzo, honorable Raymond Gborson observed that there was very little difference between the postpaid and prepaid meters.
Estimating his monthly expenses on the prepaid meters compared to the postpaid bills, the Assemblyman said his consumption was around the same amount.
“Using this for a month, I don’t see any difference between this one and the postpaid ones. This one is paying as you go, the only difference is that if you don’t have credit on it, you can’t use it as compared to the postpaid ones that you can use as and when you have money,” he said.
Contrary to complaints of deductions from some consumers, Hon Gborson said he only paid the statutory charges through the deductions whenever he bought credit although he admits he had unpaid bills on the postpaid meters.
To him, the agitations that greeted the proposed installation process stemmed from the low education ahead of the deployment of the meters.
He added that following the instructions on the meter was easy and called for understanding and acceptance by all and sundry.
He noted: “The agitation of people before the installation of the prepaid to me has been that proper and vivid education has not taken place…for years, decades Krobos and for that matter we Ghanaians were used to the postpaid meters.”
The management and staff of the Krobo District of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) embarked on a health walk on Saturday (29 October 2022) as part of activities marking this year’s breast cancer awareness month.
The month-long awareness programme is spearheaded by the Power Queens Club of the power distribution company. The club is an association of all the female staff of the organisation.
The month of October has been set aside as breast cancer awareness month all over the world. Various activities are planned towards creating awareness on the disease.
Some choose various themes to mark the celebration. The encouragement of women and men to get screened remains a top awareness issue for many organisations.
In ECG, the Power Queens Club has been spearheading the month-long awareness creation on breast cancer. Across the various operational districts of the organisation, a number of activities were carried out, with opportunities for people to get screened.
The Krobo District of the ECG has been participating in this month-long awareness programme. To climax it, the management and staff of the district walked up the Acineci Mountain in Krobo. They did this alongside staff from other operational areas and supporting personnel who are aiding general work in the district.
The acting Krobo district manager, Ing. Christopher Apawu said that they had indeed taken the breast cancer awareness creation seriously and had been encouraging all staff to get screened.
“We also encourage them to encourage their families and friends to get screened because it has been determined that early detection of breast cancer helps in easier management of it,” he said.
“Medical diagnosis has shown that men are also at risk of the disease hence all staff were roped into the various activities and encouraged to partake in the screening processes,” he added.
The executives of the Power Queens Club in the district have played an active role in the month-long activities. They thanked the management of the district for creating the enabling environment for them to carry on with the awareness programme in October.
Customers adversely affected by the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG)’s prepayment system vending failure will today begin processing claims forms to be submitted to the ECG District Offices for compensation.
This follows an engagement between the PURC and ECG regarding the compensation of clients affected by ECG’s Prepayment System in the Volta Region, Accra, Central Region, Western Region, Ashanti Region, and Eastern Region, among others.
Dr. Ishmael Ackah, Executive Secretary, PURC, in a statement signed and issued and copied to the paper in Accra on Friday, said the ECG, under PURC’s regulatory oversight, shall investigate and analyse the information contained in submitted forms and compensate affected customers accordingly.
“Only customers whose electricity supply was interrupted due to the vending failure will be considered for compensation,” he added.
Dr. Ackah used the opportunity to assure all stakeholders that the Commission was committed to protecting the interests of both utilities and consumers.
Meanwhile, ECG, at a presser recently in Accra, said it could not undertake a wholesale compensation payment to all customers of the company as directed by the PURC for the recent power crisis.
Instead, the company noted, it was prepared to abide by the laid down procedure to pay compensation to affected customers on a case-by-case basis.
Managing Director of ECG, Samuel Dubik Mahama, said his outfit was preparing to engage the PURC on the need to alter the directive to make case by case the basis of payment of compensation.
Seven individuals in the Bekwai municipality of the Ashanti Region have been found complicit in the stealing of power from the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) through illegal connection.
They were tracked down by the ECG Regional Taskforce mandated to check illegal power connections.
Leader of the ECG Regional Taskforce, Ing. Kwabena Acheampong, says the illegal connection has caused the ECG a lot of revenue loss, hence the constitution of the taskforce to tackle the menace.
“We are moving from house to house checking illegality. People we have disconnected due to non-payment of electricity and have self-reconnected, people who have done illegal connections and are using our electricity for free.
“We are creating awareness that when you use electricity, it is your civic responsibility that you pay for what you use,” he stated.
The taskforce operates with the Police to facilitate the prosecution of suspects.
One of the suspects, who is an assembly member, was arrested for self-reconnection.
He was disconnected for owing electricity bills but says he reconnected with the intent of paying his debt the following day.
“I owe bills but I have not paid in full so I did self-reconnection to pay later but it was not my intention to reconnect.”
Another suspect says he reconnected thinking his cable disconnected by default.
“Every time they disconnect, the meter is sealed. But this time, they left it opened so I reconnected. It was not deliberate,” he told Adom News.
ECG says it has addressed all challenges that marred its metering systems, hence the need to refrain from any panic buying.
Addressing the media, the Managing Director of ECG, Samuel Dubik said all of its platforms are operational including the vending app on Android mobile phones.
“I would like to reiterate that if your power is not finished, don’t panic, just take your time because if you run out you can buy credit, so we are able to reduce the queues that are forming. But all third parties are up. All those with challenges should go to the ECG offices for the issue to be resolved. We are deeply sorry for the inconvenience and we intend to do right for the people of Ghana”.
The ECG said a technical challenge affected its prepaidmetering systems, a development which has interrupted the purchase of electricity credit.
Both domestic and commercial users who run out of power supply were not able to make purchases due to the technical challenge.
Compensation
Some consumers have been counting their losses, with some saying their businesses have been affected negatively following their inability to purchase electricity.
The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has directed the ECG to compensate customers affected by its prepaid vending and metering glitch.
The directive according to the PURC is in line with the breach of the ECG’s statutory obligations.
The ECG had ruled out any payment of compensation following the vending failure in its prepayment system which has affected consumers for the past one week adding that, such a decision if considered, will be made on a case-by-case basis.
But in a statement issued on Tuesday, October 4, 2022, the PURC said, “it hereby orders ECG to pay compensation to the affected customers”.
This, it says, is in compliance with the law and a demonstration of good customer service.
These compensations will come in the form of one-time electricity credit commencing October 1, 2022 and ending October 7, 2022.
ECG says it has addressed all challenges that marred its metering systems, hence the need to refrain from any panic buying.
Addressing the media, the Managing Director of ECG, Samuel Dubik said all of its platforms are operational including the vending app on Android mobile phones.
“I would like to reiterate that if your power is not finished, don’t panic, just take your time because if you run out you can buy credit, so we are able to reduce the queues that are forming. But all third parties are up. All those with challenges should go to the ECG offices for the issue to be resolved. We are deeply sorry for the inconvenience and we intend to do right for the people of Ghana”.
The ECG said a technical challenge affected its prepaid metering systems, a development which has interrupted the purchase of electricity credit.
Both domestic and commercial users who run out of power supply were not able to make purchases due to the technical challenge.
Compensation
Some consumers have been counting their losses, with some saying their businesses have been affected negatively following their inability to purchase electricity.
The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has directed the ECG to compensate customers affected by its prepaid vending and metering glitch.
The directive according to the PURC is in line with the breach of the ECG’s statutory obligations.
The ECG had ruled out any payment of compensation following the vending failure in its prepayment system which has affected consumers for the past one week adding that, such a decision if considered, will be made on a case-by-case basis.
But in a statement issued on Tuesday, October 4, 2022, the PURC said, “it hereby orders ECG to pay compensation to the affected customers”.
This, it says, is in compliance with the law and a demonstration of good customer service.
These compensations will come in the form of one-time electricity credit commencing October 1, 2022 and ending October 7, 2022.
Presidential hopeful, Kojo Nsafoah Poku, has alleged that the recent challenges with the payment system of the Electricity Company of Ghana are resultant of a deliberate cyber-attack by some individuals.
According to him, some people intentionally introduced a virus into the system of the ECG to hide some crimes they committed.
He added that the IT staff at the ECG cannot be involved in the current challenges, as is being asserted, because they do not want any third party to be brought on board because of their inability to perform.
“The ICT staff are against the hiring of a third party to help with the payment system of the ECG and so they will never do something that will lead to that. Now that their payment system is down, people will be saying that the 3rd party has to be brought on board and that is not what the ECG staff want.
“There is someone at the ECG who is refusing to give data or equipment for the issue to be resolved and EOCO has now gone to take them by force. The person is the one with a motive. Now, there is a subject of criminality because the person might be trying to hide some bad things she/he has done including the possibility of shortchanging the company in terms of revenues acquired through the payment system.
“The truth is that the person has introduced a virus into the system of the ECG and that is why Ghanaians now have to struggle in order to purchase electricity,” he said in Twi in an XYZ TV interview monitored by GhanaWeb.
He urged Ghanaians to be patient because the security apparatus of the country including the National Cyber Security Centre, and the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), have taken up the matter and will get to the bottom of it.
Since Tuesday, 27 September 2022, ECG customers across the country have struggled to purchase prepaid credits for their prepaid metres.
The ECG announced that it was experiencing challenges with the purchase of electricity by customers on the E-cash and PNS metering systems.
In a public announcement, the ECG noted that the interruption is due to “a technical challenge.”
The power distribution company, however, assured customers in the affected areas that its “engineers are working assiduously to correct the anomaly and restore the system to normalcy.”
Some Ghanaians including a System Analyst and Cyber Security Consultant, Yayra Koku, have alleged that the current challenge with the Electricity Company of Ghana’s prepaid vending system is a deliberate ploy to make way for the procurement of a new payment platform from a private company called Hubtel.
In a post shared on Twitter on Monday, October 3, 2022, Yayra Koku said that there is nothing wrong with the current payment system of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) but some people want to change it because of a 4 percent commission they stand to get.
The National Disaster Management Organisation (NADMO) has established that about 2,000 people have been affected directly by the flooding at Weija.
Communities close to the Weija Dam, including Weija, Oblogo and Tetegu, have been submerged by loads of water after the Ghana Water Company Limited (GWCL) opened the five spill gates of the dam to spill water to save it from collapse.
The Weija-Gbawe Director of NADMO, Emmanuel Adu Boahene, who accompanied the Director General of NADMO, Nana Agyemang-Prempeh, and a team from the organisation, disclosed this to the Daily Graphic yesterday.
It was during a tour of the flooded areas to assess the extent of flooding, which was rising by the hour because of continuous spillage.
He said the NADMO team was still conducting an assessment to determine the actual number of people displaced by the floods.
Mr Adu Boahene said a haven had been created for displaced persons.
Tour
During the tour, Mr Agyemang-Prempeh visited the Weija Dam to see first-hand the spillage being carried out at Oblogo, Tatop, New Weija and the Weija estuary where he interacted with some victims of the flood.
He was accompanied by his Deputy, Abu Ramadan; the Weija-Gbawe Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), Patrick Kumor, and other officials from both the national and municipal NADMO directorates.
At Oblogo, Mr Agyemang-Prempeh told some of the victims of the flood that it was unacceptable to put up buildings within the buffer zone of the dam.
He, therefore, asked them to relocate since the place was not meant for human habitation but irrigation.
Mr Agyemang-Prempeh said he sympathised with them and would not want them to go through such an ordeal again; hence, the need to relocate since illegal structures within the buffer would be pulled down after the water had receded.
However, he said, some relief items would be presented by yesterday and today to help alleviate their plight.
The items, which would be distributed on a needs basis will include buckets, plates, blankets, mosquito nets and coil, rice, mattresses and sugar.
Flooding
The NADMO boss said flooding had been experienced from the north through to the middle belt and then down south due to rains and galamsey activities.
At the Weija Dam, for instance, he said there was no choice but to spill the excess water.
Victims
Some of the victims said they needed sleeping places and food since they had lost everything to the floods.
One of the victims, Ama Tawiah, said for three days, she had not been able to go to her house because the place was flooded and added that she had to sleep in the open under a tree.
Another victim, Patience Ametepe, said she had lost her foodstuffs and items in her small grocery shop, which she stocked only last Saturday.
“These are the items I sell to survive but now I have lost all of them in the flood. I can’t even go to my house because it is flooded and all the food items have been destroyed,” she lamented.
Cashing in
Meanwhile, some canoe owners are taking advantage of the floods to make quick profits by offerings their boats to ferry victims.
Passengers ride in small canoes for short distances at GH¢10, while transportation of personal effects over a short distance may cost about GH¢10.
ECG
The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has sent notice that it had to put off the power supply to the affected areas to safeguard lives and property, since “electricity does not go well with water”.
The Accra West Regional Manager of the ECG, Ebenezer Gunney, who made that known to the Daily Graphic, said “we would restore power when we deem it safe”.
“We are assessing the situation on the ground and the power will be restored to the affected areas when we deem it safe for lives and property,” Mr Gunney said.
For his part, the Weija-Gbawe MCE said the good news was that the water levels from the Eastern Region were reducing, which could result in the closure of some gates at the dam to reduce the pressure on the affected communities.
John Jinapor, the ranking member of the Parliament’s Mines and Energy Committee, has claimed that the management of the Electricity Company of Ghana intends to transfer control of its payment system to a for-profit organization called Hubtel.
He claims that the private firm is the same one where Kwame Agyeman-Budu, the former MD of ECG, allegedly intended to take control of its payment system for a commission of 1.5 percent.
Speaking on the Good Morning Ghana show on October 4, 2022, John Jinapor alleged that current ECG management is now trying to privatize the payment system at a 4 percent commission rate.
“I’m even told that Hubtel is proposing to charge 4 percent commission. So, there is a lot of internal upheaval among some ECG staff,” he indicated.
He continued, “Don’t forget that during Budu’s time he wanted to embark on the same thing and charge 1.5 (percent commission). The ECG staff held press conferences publicly and agitated against the 1.5 percent commission.”
“They (the ECG staff) believe that they have already developed the app and that it should not cost that much to bring on board a third party,” the MP said.
He added that the National Security has since been engaged in the matter and is probing details of the alleged transaction.
The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has ordered the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG)to compensate all customers who have been affected by the malfunctioning of its prepayment meter system.
In a press release on October 4, 2022, PURC indicated that ECG shall compensate affected customers in the form of one-time electricity credit from October 1 to 7, 2022.
The ECG has been directed to notify customers of the compensation due them. Also, the compensation shall be clearly displayed on customer receipts.
Over the weekend, consumers complained that they were unable to buy electricity credit using the prepayment meter system despite the ECG stating that the challenges faced had been resolved.
“The Electricity Company of Ghana wishes to inform all stakeholders, especially our cherished customers on our prepayment metering system that the issue with the 3rd Party Vending Points has been resolved,” part of the statement released on October 1 read.
On Monday, the Electricity Company of Ghana revealed that they have fixed the vending challenges customers were facing with the prepaid metering system across the country.
However, many say they continue to experience such challenges. Customers who have thronged ECG offices have had to leave without being attended to.
Meanwhile, the PURC has directed the ECG to extend its working hours at all affected locations to 8PM.
Also, the electricity service provider is to employ temporary staff to ensure that affected customers are speedily attended to and a credited with the approved compensation by October 7, 2022.
Prepaid metre users of the state power distribution company between late September 2022 and early October 2022 experienced challenges in topping up credit.
The situation affected customers seeking to purchase credit from third-party vending points and the ECG mobile app, leading to several power users being left without supply for days.
In a statement dated October 4, 2022, the PURC ordered ECG to compensate its affected customers for breaching its obligations.
“In view of the extent of inconvenience occasioned by the failure with the ECG prepayment meter system, the Commission has determined that ECG shall pay compensation to all affected customers.
“ECG IS HERBY ORDERED to compensate each affected customer for loss suffered as a show of responsive customer service,” the statement said.
According to the directive, the compensation is to be affected “in the form of one-time electricity credit commencing 1 October 2022 and ending October 7, 2022.”
See below the details of the full order by PURC to ECG
Watch the latest episode of The Lowdown below:
The Lowdown: Role of the diaspora in the development of Africa
CEO of the Aaron Manvel Foundation Millie Lorene Tucker and Gary Hope, the CEO of FLCC – Bring Back Hope Foundation underscore the need for the African diaspora to help develop the continent in this episode of The Lowdown on GhanaWeb TV. According to the women trying to make and create a change in Ghana, our forefathers were sold away and made to develop strange lands. Thus, coming back home and developing their home country is the best thing to do especially when resources are available.
The Executive Director of the Institute for Energy Policies and Research (IEPRe), Kwadwo Poku, is calling for transparency in the IT department of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).
According to Mr. Opoku, the department’s refusal to provide the company board with accounts of its operations is a contributing factor to the current challenges with the ECG’s prepaid credit operating system.
His remarks come after some ECG prepaid customers were left in the dark due to a technical issue that prevented them from purchasing credits for their metres.
Customers in Accra, Volta Region, Takoradi, Tema, Cape Coast, Kasoa, Winneba, Swedru, Koforidua, Nkawkaw, and Tafo were affected.
Information privy to him indicates that “there is one person at ECG who controls all the vendors” and that, according to him, is what the ECG’s managing director, Samuel Dubik Masubir Mahama, has been trying to impose some changes within the organization, particularly with regard to how the credit system is managed, but has encountered some resistance from the IT unit that is in charge of the system.
In an interview with Joy News, Kwadwo Poku mentioned that “Now what happens is that the Managing Director of ECG and his managers are asking the IT department to give them some information and that information is not forthcoming”.
Refuting claims of ECG suffering a system hack, Kwadwo Poku explained that Hubtel’s involvement in resolving the prepaid credit system challenge is not to check for hacks but to “help ECG develop a transparent platform” as that is exactly what the company needs to juxtapose into its financials.
While he stopped short of accusing the IT department of sabotage, he noted that the ongoing impasse may have a direct link to the system shutdown that ECG had experienced over the past six days.
Samuel Mahama, the managing director of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), has expressed his regret to the company’s whole customer base for the error that prevented the purchase of electricity.
He acknowledged that the company’s incapacity to perform at its peak was to blame for the problem.
On Monday, October 3, he claimed during a news conference in Accra, “I sell energy with the company called Electricity Company of Ghana.
I confess it, and my business acknowledges its error in failing to provide clients with service. We sincerely apologize for this.
“That was our fault that we were not on top of our game to deliver a service. Let us not forget that in such a business the customer is the one that always gets hurt when you don’t deliver on your promise. So when I said I admit my fault I admit my fault in not being able to deliver the service that we promised to deliver.”
He stressed ” I will like to apologize to all customers of the Electricity Company of Ghana who attempted to purchase power and they were not able to purchase power, the company admits its fault , the company admits that it was not able to deliver on the service. But the company will like all its customers to also know that most vending stations are up and running. I used most because we still have have some few challenges in the Ashanti region that we are working on. Hopefully, by close of day today, it will be resolved.”
Technical fault disrupted the purchase of power in most parts of the country, leaving consumers frustrated.
The ECG on Saturday October 1 told customers that the problem had been resolved therefore they can now purchase the power.
“Customers can now purchase electricity credits from nearest vending points and all ECG District offices including tomorrow Sunday 2nd October 2022 from 9AM to 4PM,” the statement said.
An International Expert in Information Security, Professor Godfried Williams, has advised the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) not to rule out cyber attacks on its system.
He noted that the disruption of services clearly showed that the ECG did not have a robust cyber resilient plan in place to respond to attacks of such nature.
In an interview last Sunday on how the ECG could secure its system, Prof. Williams — who is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Intellas, an IBM Business Partner — said with a resilient plan in place, the ECG could have still provided services to clients despite the attacks.
Breaches
Giving further details, Prof. Williams said the cyber breaches could be caused by internal or external sources.
He explained the idea that it could come from outside might not always be the case because there might be attackers who operated internally.
“But the only thing which is obvious is that there is a denial of service, which means that the systems have been attacked.
“The way out is to prepare ahead, but in situations that you are not prepared and it happens in real time, you need to face the consequences like what we are seeing with ECG today,” he said.
Key actors
The information security expert said the problem was no longer a wholly ECG burden, emphasising that there was the need for the involvement of all key actors to solve the situation.
That, he said, was because when attackers succeeded in their quest in a particular country, the trend was that they made several efforts at others because they could see more vulnerability in the system.
“And so, this may be just the beginning, and we need to brace ourselves and prepare ahead,” he stated.
Protecting threats
To protect against the threats, Prof. Williams said there should be collaborative efforts among businesses, institutions, experts and regulatory authorities in the cyber space to create an enabling environment that would help them guard against vulnerabilities to cyber attacks.
He explained that the collaboration should precede the creation of a robust cyber security ecosystem that thrived on consistent engagements among relevant stakeholders and championed by the Cyber Security Authority(CSA).
Prof. Williams said recent instances of attacks demonstrated the necessity for industry-wide collaboration to fight against the threats.
The attacks, he said, often had significant impacts with regards to financial losses to the affected entity and its clients, and so it required firms to build cyber resilience.
He added that in building cyber resilience, firms needed to anticipate, predict, detect and protect their key infrastructure from attacks.
Background
Many homes in the country have been plunged into darkness after the ECG’s prepaid metering system failed to render services to its consumers from Monday, September 26, 2022.
According to a press statement issued by the ECG on Wednesday, September 28, 2022, the electricity distributor admitted to experiencing technical challenges which had affected prepaid metering systems, thereby interrupting the vending of prepaid electricity credit across the country.
“Affected customers should please note that our ICT team is working assiduously to correct the anomaly and restore the system to normalcy,” the statement said.
However, five days after the issue of the statement, consumers were still reported to be stuck in darkness as they were unable to load power credit to their prepaid system.
The Ranking Member on Parliament’s Mines and Energy Committee, John Jinapor, says he has spoken to the Chairman of the Committee, Samuel Atta Akyea, to invite the Management of the Electricity Company Limited to appear before the Committee for the issues surrounding the technical challenge to be dealt with.
According to him, doing so would provide both Parliament and the general public with the full facts as to what exactly had happened leading to the technical challenge that had left consumers unable to recharge their electricity credit for days.
This comes after some ECG prepaid consumers were left in the dark after a technical challenge affected the purchase of credits for their meters.
Customers in Volta Region, Takoradi, Tema, Cape Coast, Kasoa, Winneba, Swedru, Koforidua, Nkawkaw and Tafo were affected.
On October 1, ECG said they had fixed the vending challenges, however, some consumers were still reporting challenges on Sunday morning with long queues being seen at vending centres across affected areas.
Commenting on the situation, the Ranking Member noted that while the IT department of the ECGhas been bastardised following the technical hitch, it would be rather unfair to do so when there has been no concrete evidence to prove such claims.
He has thus called on all and sundry to exercise maximum restraint when commenting on the situation and await the Committee’s findings on the matter.
“I have spoken to Chairman of the Committee, honourable Atta Akyea, that when all is over ECG must be invited to appear before the committee so that we can deal with this issue and get the full facts. Because at that level, you’re appearing before a committee that has the powers of a high court and sometimes you’re under oath.
“But I think that it is early days yet to begin to accuse people directly. You may have your suspicions just as we also get a lot of information. And I’ve been very very careful putting out a lot of the information I get.
“In fact, I am aware that the IT department has worked around the clock to bring all this service back on and so let’s be very very careful not to pigeonhole people and demonise them.
“It is my hope that this investigation will be very very transparent and that the full details will be made available to the general public in terms of what really transpired and what we can do going forward. So I will plead with all of us to exercise maximum restraint in levelling accusations,” he said.
The Managing Director of the Electricity Company of Ghana, Samuel Dubik Mahama has said he can not deny nor confirm that the company’s prepaid vending system was hacked.
He said the inability of some customers to load credit onto prepaid meters last week was an IT related challenge that was being resolved.
Addressing a press conference today, he said the challenges would be fully resolved by the close of the day.
“Yes we do know exactly what the problem is and clearly we’ve solved the problem. We can clearly say that over 95 percent of our customers are back. So we are still working on the challenges that we have and by close of day, we will solve it”, the MD said in response to a question on what exactly the problem was.
Asked if it was a hack that caused the challenges, the ECG MD said, “to be very honest, I cannot confirm or deny. All I can is that it is left with the necessary investigations for us to do the right thing and to make sure that the right things are established, for the good people of Ghana.”
The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) says 95% of its customers can now access its prepaid vending services nationwide.
According to the power distributor, the challenges with its prepaid system have been largely resolved nationwide, and, therefore, customers can refill their empty swipe cards.
Addressing the press on Monday morning, the General Manager for External Communications, Charles Nii Ayiku Ayiku, said he is hopeful that the prepaid services will be fully operational by the close of business on Monday.
“We do know exactly what the challenge is and clearly we’ve solved the problem. We can clearly say that over 95% of our customers are back on so we are still working on the challenges that we have, and as soon as we’re done by close of day, everybody will be able to vend”, he assured.
The comments by the ECG spokesperson follow a prolonged blackout in some parts of the country due to the inability of consumers to access the company’s prepaid vending services.
This led to a series of lamentations on social media by affected citizens who bemoaned the situation.
Regions such as the Greater Accra Region, Volta Region and the Ashanti Region were all severely affected, with locals complaining bitterly about the development.
In the wake of the crisis, Member of Parliament for Ningo-Prampram, Sam George Nartey alleged that the disruptions in power supply were a deliberate scheme to sabotage the current leadership of the ECG and also cover up some rots at the company.
According to the NDC lawmaker, the challenge, which had left many prepaid consumers in the dark for days was carried out by some “criminal” personnel in the institution.
In a post on Facebook on Saturday, Sam George wrote “my information points to a group that has been siphoning over GH200 million, you read that right. Every month! Yes.”
“What we are witnessing is an internal power play to cripple the new MD who has dared to open an investigation into these matters”, he added.
But reacting to these concerns at Monday morning’s presser, Mr Ayiku Ayiku said he cannot confirm or dismiss the allegations of Sam George since he has no information in that regard.
He further added that he cannot substantiate the allegation about the hacking of the ECG’s systems, stressing that, the issue was not sabotaging, but rather a regular disruption.
“The challenge was ICT related. The challenge was technology related but we have the requisite people working for us. The requisite consultants are in place”, he said.
Mr Ayiku, therefore, thanked the staff of the ECG for working around the clock to resolve the issue.
Meanwhile, Sam George has taken down his Facebook post about the alleged cyber attack on the systems of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).
According to him, he deleted the post out of respect for the ongoing audit and maintenance work the ECG is doing to resolve the challenges customers have been facing in buying prepaid credits.
Mr George added that he did not intend to compromise the remedial steps ECG was taking to resolve the situation.
“I have taken down my ECG post out of respect for the work I have just been informed is being done on the matter. I do not intend in any way to compromise the remedial steps underway”, he wrote on Sunday.
The Managing Director of Electricity Company Ghana (ECG) has rejected allegations of sabotage over the recent power purchase difficulties faced by the citizenry.
Samuel Dubik Mahama said the challenges with the institution are just like all others.
Speaking at a presser on Monday, Mr Mahama said ECG will put the necessary systems required to make their operations better.
“I don’t feel sabotaged. I don’t feel sabotaged at all. I just feel we are working and there are challenges and in every working environment there are pushes and there are pools, and we just have to work hard to ensure that the right systems are put in place, so things move in the right direction,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mr Mahama also assured Ghanaians the challenges will be resolved by the close of the day.
“It is work that we are doing. So we plead with you to help us help you. We have challenges, but we believe by close of work today, most of the machines will be working well and everyone will be able to buy their power,” he added.
Some ECG prepaid consumers were left in the dark after a technical challenge affected the purchase of credits for their meters.
Customers in Volta Region, Takoradi, Tema, Cape Coast, Kasoa, Winneba, Swedru, Koforidua, Nkawkaw and Tafo were affected.
On October 1, ECG said they had fixed the vending challenges.
In a press release, the power distribution company noted that consumers who were having challenges buying credits can now do so at the ending points.
“The Electricity Company of Ghana wishes to inform all stakeholders, especially our cherished customers on our prepayment metering system that the issue with the 3rd Party Vending Points has been resolved,” part of the statement read.
“Customers can now purchase electricity credits from their nearest vending points, and all ECG District offices, including tomorrow Sunday, 2nd October 2022, from 9.00 am – 4.00 pm,” ECG added.
However, some consumers are still reporting challenges with the system.
The Managing Director of the Electricity Company of Ghana, Samuel Dubik Mahama is uncertain whether the company’s prepaid vending system was hacked or not.
At a press brief, he noted that he could neither deny nor confirm that the company’s prepaid vending system was hacked.
He said the inability of some customers to load credit onto prepaid meters last week was an IT related challenge that was being resolved.
Addressing a press conference today, he said the challenges would be fully resolved by the close of the day.
“Yes we do know exactly what the problem is and clearly we’ve solved the problem. We can clearly say that over 95 percent of our customers are back. So we are still working on the challenges that we have and by close of day, we will solve it”, the MD said in response to a question on what exactly the problem was.
Asked if it was a hack that caused the challenges, the ECG MD said, “to be very honest, I cannot confirm or deny. All I can is that it is left with the necessary investigations for us to do the right thing and to make sure that the right things are established, for the good people of Ghana.”
The Chief Executive Officer of Engineers & Planners Ghana Limited, Ibrahim Mahama has been conferred EMY AFRICA, MAN OF THE YEAR at this year’s Exclusive Men Of the Year awards held on Saturday, October 1, 2022.
The award was powered by Ghana Investment Promotion Centre.
The special ceremony took place at the Accra International Conference Centre.
Mr. Ibrahim Mahama was awarded and specially recognised for his contribution to the growth and development of private sector businesses in Ghana and Africa.
The EMY Africa awards, celebrate Leaders, Young Achievers, Community Builders to Captains of Industries across the continent.
The Awards ceremony has become established as one of the biggest gatherings of influential and business leaders.
Presenting the award to Mr. Mahama, the Board Chairman of Guinness Ghana Breweries Limited, Dr Felix E. Addo, acknowledged the immense contribution Mr. Mahama has made and continues to make to the economic development of Ghana.
The award was also in recognition of his philanthropic activities.
Dr. Addo said Mr. Ibrahim Mahama’s companies are economic powerhouses in Ghana and beyond.
Speaking through the Technical Director of E&P, Mr. Majeed Abudu, Mr. Mahama said it is fulfilling when contribution to the development of the country is recognised.
He said, more is being done to empower the teeming youth through job creation and mentorship.
He thanked Ghanaians for accepting Dzata Cement since the company started operations last year.
Mr. Mahama is the founder of Engineers and Planners an indigenous, A-Class mining and construction company with an enviable record of working for multi-national companies both in Ghana and outside the shores of Ghana.
He is also the owner of Asutsuare Poultry farm, one of the largest poultry establishments in Ghana.
His latest venture is in the production of Portland cement, with the establishment of Ghana’s first wholly owned cement producing company Dzata Cement.
The plant has a capacity to produce 2.6 million tonnes of Portland cement in year.
The Managing Director of the power distributing company, noted that the ECG acknowledges its fault of failing to distribute power to customers.
The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has apologised to customers for the inconvenience caused by the challenges it experienced with its prepaid vending system.
The company has also disclosed that its vending stations are currently working so customers can purchase their prepaid credit.
Speaking at a press conference held on Monday, 3 October 2022, in Accra, the Managing Director of the power distributing company, Samuel Mahama noted that the ECG acknowledges its fault of failing to distribute power to customers and apologised for the interruption in service delivery.
Mr Mahama said: “That was our fault that we were not on top of our game to deliver a service. Let us not forget that in such a business the customer is the one that always gets hurt when you don’t deliver on your promise. So when I said I admit my fault, I admit my fault in not being able to deliver the service that we promised to deliver.
“I will like to apologise to all customers of the Electricity Company of Ghana who attempted to purchase power and they were not able to purchase power, the company admits its fault, the company admits that it was not able to deliver on the service.”
He however, hinted that, the company is still experiencing some challenges in the Ashanti Region.
“But the company will like all its customers to also know that most vending stations are up and running.
“I used most because we still have some few challenges in the Ashanti region that we are working on. Hopefully, by close of day today, it will be resolved.”
Meanwhile, the MD, is optimistic, that challenges with the power distributing company’s prepaid vending system will be fully resolved by Tuesday, 4 October 2022.
According to the ECG MD, customers will be able to purchase prepaid credits without challenges.
Power consumers across certain parts of the country have, for the past six days, been unable to purchase power on their prepaid meters because of a technical challenge that affected ECG’s prepaid metering systems.
Ningo-Prampram MP Sam Nartey George has taken down his Facebook post about an alleged cyber attack on the systems of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).
According to him, he deleted the post out of respect for the ongoing audit and maintenance work the ECG is doing to resolve the challenges customers have been facing in buying prepaid credits.
Mr George added that he did not intend to compromise the remedial steps ECG was taking to resolve the situation.
“I have taken down my ECG post out of respect for the work I have just been informed is being done on the matter. I do not intend in any way to compromise the remedial steps underway,” he wrote.
On Sunday, October 2, the legislator claimed that the challenges ECG prepaid customers are experiencing are “extremely serious” because “the attack on their system was not external but carried out by a cabal of ‘criminals’ within the very same organisation.”
The MP added that he had an information that a group had been siphoning over ¢200 million every month from the power distribution company.
He urged government to commence a forensic investigation of the IT department of ECG.
“What we are witnessing is internal power play to cripple the new MD who has dared to open an investigation into these matters. The state security apparatus must with alacrity take this matter up and ensure the safety and protection of the MD and his team seeking to uncover the mess.
“The rot at ECG would make you sick if you truly love this country and it is not about politicians here. It is Ghanaian citizens taking advantage of the citizens. We demand swift and immediate action,” he said.
The ECG has, however, indicated that it is undertaking an audit into its systems to help ascertain what caused the interruptions in the purchase of electricity credits by customers using both old and new prepaid metres.
Speaking on The Probe on Sunday, ECG’s General Manager of External Communications said “for every system when there are issues you do a system audit and that is what we are doing now, trying to make sure we audit the system to understand what happened.”
Mr Charles Nii Ayiku Ayiku added that “I am sure at the end of the day we will come to a conclusion but for now, effort and concentration are to make sure that we get our systems up and running.”
Despite the challenges, the General Manager insisted the ECG systems are not vulnerable and believes the audit will clearly spell out what went wrong.
Meanwhile, Mr Goerge says he “would continue to follow the matter and update the public on the actions taken to ensure such treachery against our country never happens again.”
Credit purchase
On October 1, ECG said they had fixed the vending challenges and urged customers to visit any nearest office to purchase credits.
However, some customers have been reporting challenges as of Monday morning.
The Managing Director of Electricity Company Ghana (ECG)has rejected allegations of sabotage over the recent power purchase difficulties faced by the citizenry.
Samuel Dubik Mahama said the challenges with the institution are just like all others.
Speaking at a presser on Monday, Mr Mahamasaid ECG will put the necessary systems required to make their operations better.
“I don’t feel sabotaged. I don’t feel sabotaged at all. I just feel we are working and there are challenges and in every working environment there are pushes and there are pools, and we just have to work hard to ensure that the right systems are put in place, so things move in the right direction,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mr Mahamaalso assured Ghanaians the challenges will be resolved by the close of the day.
“It is work that we are doing. So we plead with you to help us help you. We have challenges, but we believe by close of work today, most of the machines will be working well and everyone will be able to buy their power,” he added.
Some ECG prepaid consumers were left in the dark after a technical challenge affected the purchase of credits for their meters.
Customers in Volta Region, Takoradi, Tema, Cape Coast, Kasoa, Winneba, Swedru, Koforidua, Nkawkaw and Tafo were affected.
On October 1, ECG said they had fixed the vending challenges.
In a press release, the power distribution company noted that consumers who were having challenges buying credits can now do so at the ending points.
“The Electricity Company of Ghana wishes to inform all stakeholders, especially our cherished customers on our prepayment metering system that the issue with the 3rd Party Vending Points has been resolved,” part of the statement read.
“Customers can now purchase electricity credits from their nearest vending points, and all ECG District offices, including tomorrow Sunday, 2nd October 2022, from 9.00 am – 4.00 pm,” ECG added.
However, some consumers are still reporting challenges with the system.
Media personality and political activist, Kwame Asare Obeng, popularly known as A Plus, has urged Ghanaians to resort to illegal electricity connections if the challenge with purchasing prepaid credit persists.
His comment comes on the back of challenges customers of the Electricity Company of Ghana, ECG, have faced in getting prepaid credit to purchase from vendors.
In a video shared on his Instagram handle, A Plus lamented the impact of the absence of prepaid on businesses and the health of people.
He mentioned that some traders need electricity to refrigerate their meat and fish while some persons with health conditions need it to store their medication at a certain temperature.
“Have you gotten some of the prepaid to buy? ECG is on my lane here. There are a lot of people who have thronged the place wanting the prepaid credits. A poor person has gone to buy a pound of meat to refrigerate.
“The person sells kenkey so she has bought the meat and fish to refrigerate and fry and use it to sell their kenkey. For about one week, the person does not get to buy prepaid and the meat goes bad.
“These days medicines including Covid drugs are frozen. All these people want to buy the prepaid but it is unavailable. Others have machines that has to be plugged when their sickness becomes extreme otherwise the person will die but the light is unavailable.
“If you go to advanced countries, the light does not even go off. Over here, even when you are holding money to buy you won’t get some. What is even more annoying is that after uploading, what you get to buy, there’s light off. What is this?” he quizzed.
The musician cum political activist further berated the over-politicization of issues in the country, lamenting how easy it is to be politically tagged when making general commentary of public interest.
He stressed that even with the partisan nature of some governing New Patriotic Party activists, the matter of unavailability of prepaid has equally affected them.
A Plus added that Ghanaians should seek the services of electricians to connect them to the national grid illegally after searching for prepaid to no avail.
He argued that even if they are caught, the judge who will sit on the matter will be reasonable enough to know the challenges they are facing.
“If you have tried purchasing prepaid for a week now and you are not getting it, don’t bother yourself. Your meat will go bad. Just look for an electrician to do illegal connection for you.
“My prepaid is not finished. When it does, I will try looking for some over a certain period. If I don’t get it and I look in my freezer and things are not going okay, I will do illegal connection.
“We should test the law. No judge is mad. They are sensible … Do illegal connection. Explain to the judge with evidence that you have tried purchasing prepaid to no avail. Nobody can do anything to you when you are arrested. They’ll only take you to court in this democratic dispensation,” he opined.
ECG customers have had challenges purchasing prepaid via the app or vending outlets after the power distributor said it had encountered challenges with its prepaid metering system.
The situation led to many people thronging the district offices of ECG in a bid to have their issues addressed.
There have been reports that it was a result of ECG’s system being hacked. Meanwhile, ECG has assured that the challenge has been resolved while urging customers to visit any vendor close by to purchase prepaid.
“Customers can now purchase electricity credits from their nearest vending points, and all ECG District offices, including tomorrow Sunday, 2nd October 2022 from 9.00 am – 4.00 pm,” part of a statement released by ECG read.
Media personality and political activist, Kwame Asare Obeng, popularly known as A Plus, has urged Ghanaians to resort to illegal connection of electricity if the challenge with purchasing prepaid credit persists.
His comment comes on the back of challenges customers of the Electricity Company of Ghana, (ECG) have faced in getting prepaid credit to purchase from vendors.
In a video shared on his Instagram handle, A Plus lamented the impact of the absence of prepaid on businesses and health of people.
He mentioned that some traders need electricity to refrigerate their meat and fish while some persons with health conditions need it to store their medication at a certain temperature.
“Have you gotten some of the prepaid to buy? ECG is on my lane here. There are a lot of people who have thronged the place wanting the prepaid credits. A poor person has gone to buy a pound of meat to refrigerate.
“The person sells kenkey so she has bought the meat and fish to refrigerate and fry and use it to sell their kenkey. For about one week, the person does not get to buy prepaid and the meat goes bad.
“These days medicines including Covid drugs are frozen. All these people want to buy the prepaid but it is unavailable. Others have machines that has to be plugged when their sickness becomes extreme otherwise the person will die but the light is unavailable.
“If you go to advanced countries, the light does not even go off. Over here, even when you are holding money to buy you won’t get some. What is even more annoying is that after uploading, what you get to buy, there’s light off. What is this?,” he quizzed.
The musician cum political activist further berated the over-politicization of issues in the country lamenting how easily it is to be politically tagged when making general commentary of public interest.
He stressed that even with the partisan nature of some governing New Patriotic Party, NPP, activists, the matter of unavailability of prepaid has equally affected them.
A Plus added that Ghanaians should seek the services of electricians to do the illegal connection for them after searching for prepaid to no avail.
He argued that even if they are caught, the judge who will sit on the matter will be reasonable enough to know the challenges they are facing.
“If you have tried purchasing prepaid for a week now and you are not getting it, don’t bother yourself. Your meat will go bad. Just look for an electrician to do illegal connection for you.
“My prepaid is not finished. When it does, I will try looking for some over a certain period. If I don’t get it and I look in my freezer and things are not going okay, I will do illegal connection.
“We should test the law. No judge is mad. They are sensible … Do illegal connection. Explain to the judge with evidence that you have tried purchasing prepaid to no avail. Nobody can do anything to you when you are arrested. They’ll only take you to court in this democratic dispensation,” he opined.
ECG customers have had challenges purchasing prepaid via the app or vending outlets after the power distributor said it had encountered challenges with it prepaid metering system.
The situation led to many people thronging the district offices of ECG is a bid to have their issues addressed.
There have been reports that it was as result of ECG’s system being hacked. Meanwhile, ECG has assured that the challenge has been resolved while urging customers to visit their any vendor close by to purchase prepaid.
“Customers can now purchase electricity credits from their nearest vending points, and all ECG District offices, including tomorrow Sunday, 2nd October 2022 from 9.00 am – 4.00 pm,” part of a statement released by ECG read.
On Sunday, October 3, 2022, Mr. George wrote the following: “The ECG has a number of really major problems.
Their system was attacked internally by a group of “criminals,” not from outside the organization “.
The MP urged the government to launch a forensic probe into the IT section of ECG after claiming to have information that a gang had been stealing more than GH200 million per month from the firm.
Situation
Since last Tuesday, many ECG customers had struggled to purchase credit on their prepaid meters, either by using the ECG App or from vending outlets.
The power supplier had encountered technical challenges with its ECash and PNS Metering System which has made it impossible for customers to purchase credit.
The situation has been partially resolved as of October 2, 2022, with customers now able to purchase electricity credits through third-party vendors.
Explanation
In a follow-up, Mr George said he had deleted the “post out of respect for the work I have just been informed is being done on the matter”.
He said he did not intend to compromise the remedial steps ECG was taking to resolve the situation.
“I do not intend in any way to compromise the remedial steps underway. I can assure you all that I would continue to follow the matter and update the public on the actions taken to ensure such treachery against our Country NEVER happens again!”.
The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has served notice to customers on its prepaid metering system that the issue with the 3rd party vending points has been resolved.
The power distributor in a statement said, “customers can now purchase electricity credits from their nearest vending points, and all ECG District offices, including tomorrow Sunday, 2nd October 2022 from 9.00 am – 4.00 pm.”
It further assured customers that it is “working assiduously to restore the Power App for an improved and seamless service provision.”
Many ECG customers had for some days struggled to purchase credit on their prepaid meters, either by using the ECG App or from vending outlets.
The situation left some affected customers stranded, while some businesses have also taken a hit.
Following complaints from customers, ECG extendedworking hours at all district offices.
The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) claims to have resolved the vending issues that customers were experiencing with the country’s prepaid metering system.
The power distribution company stated in a press statement on October 1 that clients who were having difficulty purchasing credits can now do so at the various vending points across the country.
“The Electricity Company of Ghana wishes to inform all stakeholders, especially our cherished customers on our prepayment metering system that the issue with the 3rd Party Vending Points has been resolved,” part of the statement read.
“Customers can now purchase electricity credits from their nearest vending points, and all ECG District offices, including tomorrow Sunday, 2nd October 2022, from 9.00 am – 4.00 pm,” they added.
Prior to this, customers had experienced disruptions in the purchase of electricity credits in some parts of the country.
The ECG stated on Wednesday 28th September 2022, that the anomaly was a consequence of some technical issues. These technical challenges according to the ECG has since been remedied.
Volta, Takoradi, Tema, Cape Coast, Kasoa, Winneba, Swedru, Koforidua, Nkawkaw, and Tafo customers were been affected.
“Affected customers should please note that our engineers are working assiduously to correct the anomaly and restore the system to normalcy.”
However, as of Saturday morning, some customers were complaining on social media noting that they were still having challenges purchasing electricity credits.
Meanwhile, ECG promised later in the day that the issue had not only been fixed but they are working to also resolve the challenges with the ECG app.
“ECG once again assures our cherished customers that we are working assiduously to restore the Power App for an improved and seamless service provision,” they added.
The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has assured customers of Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) of its commitment to ensuring that the Company resolves technical anomaly regarding the purchase of electricity.
The Commission, in a statement, said it was closely monitoring the situation and was in full discussions with the service provider to address the issue.
The ECG on Tuesday, September 27, 2022, informed its customers on the Ecash and PNS metering systems that due to a technical challenge, purchase of electricity credit had been interrupted, affecting customers in Volta, Takoradi, Tema, Cape Coast, Kasoa, Winneba, Swedru, Koforidua, Nkawkaw, and Tafo.
The Company on Thursday, September 29, 2022, said that it was working to rectify the technical anomaly, which had affected the purchase of electricity.
It, therefore, urged customers in the Greater Accra, Central, Eastern, Western and Volta regions to visit the Company’s district offices to purchase electricity.
Meanwhile, some customers have described the incident as unfortunate and asked the PURC to direct ECG to compensate those affected.
The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) says it was closely monitoring the challenges experienced in vending for prepaid consumers on E-cash and PNS metering system of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).
A statement signed by the Executive Secretary of the PURC, Dr Ishmael Ackah assured “all affected customers of its commitment to ensuring the delivery of a safe and reliable utility service provision and to have the issue resolved quickly.”
The ECG is currently experiencing some technical challenges in relation to the metering system nationwide, which has resulted in some customers unable to top-up electric power credit on prepaid metres for the past three days.
The technical challenge has affected customers in 10 operational regional areas of the ECG in Volta, Kumasi, Accra, Takoradi, Tema, Cape Coast, Kasoa, Winneba, Swedru, Koforidua, Nkawkaw, and Tafo.
The problem started on Monday and as of Thursday afternoon, it was yet to be completely fixed.
“Some of the systems have been fixed but not all,” Charles Nii Ayiku Ayiku, General Manager in charge of external communications at ECG said.
“We are working very hard to make sure that we get all the systems in place,” he added.
Mr Ayiku said the issue is for some customers and not all customers and that the challenge was detected and fixed, “but some of the systems were not able to respond. So, it is not all our customers that are experiencing this challenge,” he said.
A statement signed by the Executive Secretary of the PURC, Dr. Ishmael Ackah assured “all affected customers of its commitment to ensuring the delivery of a safe and reliable utility service provision and to have the issue resolved quickly.”
The ECG is currently experiencing some technical challenges in relation to the metering system nationwide, which has resulted in some customers unable to top-up electric power credit on prepaid metres for the past three days.
The technical challenge has affected customers in 10 operational regional areas of the ECG in Volta, Kumasi, Accra, Takoradi, Tema, Cape Coast, Kasoa, Winneba, Swedru, Koforidua, Nkawkaw, and Tafo.
The problem started on Monday and as of Thursday afternoon, it was yet to be completely fixed.
“Some of the systems have been fixed but not all,” Charles Nii Ayiku Ayiku, General Manager in charge of external communications at ECG said.
“We are working very hard to make sure that we get all the systems in place,” he added.
Mr Ayiku said the issue is for some customers and not all customers and that the challenge was detected and fixed, “but some of the systems were not able to respond. So, it is not all our customers that are experiencing this challenge,” he said.
Below is copy of the statementgr
The Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) has noticed with concern challenges experienced in vending for consumers on E-cash and PNS metering system of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG).
The commission is closely monitoring the situation and in full discussions with the service provider to address the issue.
The commission wishes to assure all affected customers of its commitment to ensuring the delivery of a safe and reliable utility service provision and to have the issue resolved quickly.
Ten customers of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) in the Ashanti Region have been arrested for reconnecting themselves after they were disconnected.
The ten were arrested at Abuakwa, Makro, Manhyia, Tanoso, and other communities in the Abuakwa district during a night exercise.
The power distributing company arrested the ten as part of its special exercise to improve revenue mobilisation.
The ten were among 150 customers who were disconnected for failing to pay their bills and who were involved in illegal connections in the region.
Some of the arrested customers settled their bills and were reconnected.
The ECG TaskForce Manager, Ing Fred Kwabena Bediako, told the media that the exercise forms part of efforts to reduce losses and improve the company’s revenue generation drive.
He indicated that a similar exercise would take place nationwide continuously to ensure a stop to customers reconnecting themselves.
“We thought that with last experience people would have stopped doing the self-reconnection but going out today has proved that we need to intensify this monitoring to be able to deter electricity consumers from self-reconnecting.”
He added that: “We don’t take delight in doing such things because it is tiresome and increases cost, but we are forced under the circumstance to do this exercise.”
The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) says it is committed to supplying quality, reliable and safe power supply to Ghanaians across its operating areas.
To this end, it has urged Ghanaians to be responsible citizens by paying for the electricity they use and report all forms of power theft to the appropriate authorities.
Mr Ebenezer Ghunney, the General Manager of ECG for Accra West Region, gave the assurance when the company commissioned a 200KVA transformer for the Ga West Municipal Hospital at Amasaman in the Greater Accra Region on Friday.
The transformer is to provide constant and reliable power supply to the hospital and improve healthcare services.
It was installed at a cost of GHC200,000.00.
Mr Ghunney said the company chose the Ga West Municipal Hospital because of years of complaints regarding the unreliability of power supply to the facility.
“Before today, this hospital used to be served from a public transformer and they often reported issues of power fluctuations, low voltage and frequent interruption of power supply to some critical units of the hospital, including the neo natal intensive care (NICU), theatre, emergency unit, the laboratory and the records (OPD),” he said.
He added: “The installation of this dedicated 200kVA transformer to the Ga West Municipal hospital is, therefore, a means of improving power supply and reliability to this facility, and in our own small way, ensure that the provision of healthcare to the people and patrons of this hospital is not jeopardized.”
He said the gesture formed part of the company’s corporate social responsibility as well as 2022 ICT Expo activities.
Established in 1984 as a health center, the facility was designated as a Municipal Hospital in 2008.
Currently serving a population of more than 200,000 in the Ga West Municipality and adjoining municipalities, the hospital serves on average, 72,000 outpatients and 8,500 inpatients annually.
The Emergency Unit of the hospital sees more than 6,000 patients annually, that is, more than 16 patients daily and remains the only and highest referral facility in the Ga West Municipality.
However, without a dedicated transformer, the facility relied on the only transformer that served the entire community.
Dr Eric Sarpong-Ntiamoah, the Medical Superintendent, Ga West Municipal Hospital, said the installed transformer would massively improve power supply to the facility for better healthcare delivery.
He explained that over the years, the facility had had to battle with frequent power trips as a result of low voltage from the only transformer that served the community.
“An uncountable number of medical equipment and computers got damaged due to the unstable power supply. This has made the hospital very expensive to run since we have to constantly be buying equipment,” he bemoaned.
Dr Sarpong-Ntiamoah disclosed that since January this year, the hospital had spent over GH¢40,000 on fuel to power its 100KVA generator to ensure stable power supply.
“This amount could have been channeled into purchasing equipment or medicines thus aiding in the provision of quality care,” he said.
While commending the ECG for the gesture, the Medical Superintendent appealed to other benevolent organisations to come to the aid of the hospital to help address the myriad of challenges confronting it.
These challenges include inadequate space for maternal cases admission (pre and post-delivery and labor ward), inadequate delivery beds for admission and deliveries, limited rooms for health services (consultation room, office, nutrition and public health education room) and limited space for antenatal clinics.
He also called for the provision of state of the art equipment for the Emergency Unit, Wards, Theatre and Theatre Recovery to enable it to deal with emergency cases.
Dr Margaretta Gloria Chandi, the Municipal Director of Health Services for Ga West, assured management of the ECG that the hospital would do all it could to maintain the property.
The Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has cautioned against power theft in the country and urged the public to report such illegal activities to the company.
“Members of the public with information on any illegal electricity connections or thefts should report such cases to the ECG, and the informants will be duly rewarded,†it said.
Mr. Charles Nii Ayiku Ayiku, the General Manager, External Communications, ECG, said the Ministry of Energy, in collaboration with the ECG, had set up a national task force to combat illegal power activities, which was costing the company huge sums of money.
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency in Accra, Mr. Ayiku said special utility courts, which sat on Saturdays, had been set up to deal with cases involving illegal power activities.
He cautioned that those caught engaging in the act would be prosecuted.
Through the court prosecutions the company was able to retrieve three million Ghana Cedis, he said.
“We need to increase our revenues and decrease our loses so that we can serve our customers very well.”
Mr. Ayiku said the ECG was committed to the smooth implementation of the new electricity tariffs approved by the Public Utility Regulatory Commission, and working around the clock to address the challenges of prepaid meters due to the new tariffs.
He urged consumers encountering challenges with their prepaid meters to call their help desk lines for redress.
In ensuring that Lower Manya Krobo and Yilo Krobo municipalities are put back on the national grid, the Ministry of National Security has urged residents to cooperate with the Electricity Company of Ghana.
Communities in the municipalities have been without for several weeks following an alleged exchange of gunshots between the military and some residents at Nuaso.
The discomfort led to a number of protests in the affected areas. Following engagements, the ECG has noted that power will be restored in Lower Manya Krobo and Yilo Krobo municipalities.
As the ECG works to address the challenges, the National Security Ministry said “Residents of the Lower Manya Krobo and Yilo Krobo Municipalities (should) cooperate with the security agencies and the Electricity Company of Ghana to ensure law and order as electricity supply is restored to the affected areas.”
The challenges associated with power restoration necessitated a stakeholder meeting which involved the Ministry of National Security, the Electricity Company of Ghana, the Eastern Regional Minister and the Municipal Chief Executives of the Lower Manya Krobo and Yilo Krobo Municipalities on Thursday, August 11, 2022.
The stakeholders after discussions agreed that towards the restoration of power, there would be “a conduct of integrity tests on all power transmission lines and electricity infrastructure in the area and the resumption of the installation of prepaid meters following the restoration of electricity supply to the areas.”
Also, the stakeholders agreed on the following:
a. The deployment of security personnel to the said areas to ensure law and order during the installation of pre-paid meters;
b. The provision of technical assistance by the 49 Field Engineers Regiment of the Ghana Armed Forces to ECG technicians during the installation process; and
c. The arrest of persons whose conduct threatens to disrupt the exercise.
After weeks of taking Residents of the Yilo and Manya Krobo municipalities off the grid, the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) has begun maintenance works on its substation in the area.
The latest decision comes after series of meetings with all stakeholders including the ECG on ways to find an amicable solution to the current impasse.
Municipal Chief Executive for Lower Manya Krobo, Simon Tetteh said he is hopeful power will be restored in the shortest possible time.
“Now that the transformers are being repaired, we are highly expectant that power will be restored. We hope no other development forestalls this. It has not been easy these past weeks.â€
“We are just urging our people to remain calm because the matter is being resolved and very soon we will see an end to the blackouts we are experiencing.â€
There have been tensions between the resident and the ECG in recent times over the installation of prepaid metres.
There were reports suggesting that there were gunshots targeted at workers of ECGwho were in the community to disconnect power from the main transformer which was serving a number of illegally connected homes in the area.
The development, which is fast becoming a matter of safety and security, has attracted the attention of all stakeholders who have since sought a speedy resolution to the issue.
Residents of the Yilo Krobo and Lower Manya Korbo in the Eastern Region have been assured by the Municipal Chief Executives (MCE) that power would soon be restored in the area.
This comes om the back of a successful dialogue went on between the management of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), the traditional leaders of both areas, the Regional Minister and the National Security Ministry.
In an interview with Citi News, the MCE for Lower Manya Krobo, Simon Tetteh urged residents to be calm
“We are just urging our people to remain calm because the matter is being resolved and very soon we will see an end to the blackouts we are experiencing.â€
However the Yilo Krobo MCE, Eric Tetteh, forwarned residents to stay away from lawless acts.
As leaders, we must tell our people in the face that enough is enough; their reasons for rejecting the prepaid metres are untenable when there is an assurance.â€
There have been tensions between the resident and the ECG in recent times over the installation of prepaid metres.
Unconfirmed reports suggest that the gunshots were targeted at workers of ECG who were in the community to disconnect power from the main transformer which was serving a number of illegally connected homes in the area.
The development, which is fast becoming a matter of safety and security, has attracted the attention of all stakeholders who seek a speedy resolution to the issue.
But ECG says it will only restore power in the Kroboland when its men feel safe enough to enter the community.
Public Relations Officer of ECG for the Tema Region, Sakyiwa Mensah says because of the interferences in connection done by some residents, the company was concerned about the safety of the power that would get to the end-user.
“It was mainly for safety reasons. By safety, we mean our workers felt threatened. Also, the life and property of consumers within the enclave were at risk. We were working on restoring the power. While at it, we realised that some consumers had on their own started connecting to transformers in other communities which had light. This was done with careless abandon. They did not know the extent of possible damage their actions could cause.â€
The Managing Director of Electricity Company Ghana, Samuel Mahama has shot down calls to restore power supply in the Yilo and Manya Krobo municipality.
According to him, having access to electricity is not a right but a privilege.
Justifying the disconnection of power supply to the Yilo and Manya Krobo municipalities, Mr. Mahama stated that the action by the ECG was in place.
“The funny thing is we walk around thinking that it is our right to electricity; it is not a right , it is a privilege. If I can chase people in Fadama to pay their bill by giving them prepaid, I should be able to do the same thing in Manya Krobo. If I can ask the people in Dansoman to pay bills through prepaid I should be able to do that in Yilo Krobo.â€
Communities in the Yilo Krobo and Manya Krobo municipalities from Somanya to Kpong, have been cut off from the national grid.
The areas have been plunged into darkness since Wednesday, July 27, because Electricity Company Ghana (ECG) switched off feeders supplying power to communities in the two municipalities over illegal connections.
According to ECG, some recalcitrant residents have tampered with their transformers and reconnected power to their homes after they were disconnected for refusal to accept prepaid meters.
Meanwhile, families in the Yilo and Manya Krobo municipalitiessay operators of mortuaries are asking them to come for the remains of their loved ones as a result of the power outage.
The concern is that the bodies are decomposing in the wake of the community-wide power cut.
In an interview with JoyNews on Monday, one of the youth activists in the area, Edmund Aboagye said about five families have received incessant calls from mortuary attendants to retrieve their bodies because they are rotting at the facility.
According to him, the mortuary attendants say they cannot afford to fuel the generators that keep the facility running.
“I have had about four or five persons who have their family relations of dead bodies at the mortuary call to inform me that the hospitals have called them to come and pick their dead bodies because they have started going bad at the mortuary,†he said.
Commenting on the development, the Yilo Krobo Municipal Health Director, Irina Offei, stated that she cannot confirm that families have been asked to come for their corpses yet. She added however that she is certain “if the power is not restored by Wednesday, probably, they will be asking families to do that.â€
Madam Offei explained that the hospitals are now compelled to ration power because it is costing them more to keep the generators on.
Energy MinisterDr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh yesterday, Tuesday, 28 June 2022, swore in the Managing Director of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG), Mr. Samuel Dubik Mahama and Ms. Naana Nsafoah Sarpong as Members of the Board of the ECG.
This swearing-in comes on the back of the appointment by the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo,of Mr. Mahama, who was originally a member of the Board, as Managing Director replacing Mr. Kwame Agyeman-Budu, who has retired.
Ms. Nsafoah, thus, becomes the fresh face on the Board.
Dr. Prempeh expressed the belief that she will bring her vast experiences to the benefit of the company.
The Energy Minister also used the opportunity to discuss with the Board critical matters pertaining to the advancement of the ECG.
50 military personnel have been deployed to beef up security at Krobo as staff of the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) replace all postpaid meters with prepaid meters.
The installation of prepaid meters comes after years of an impasse between Krobo residents and ECG which escalated into devastating attacks.
The said violent clash ensued when residents allegedly blocked the town road to prevent ECG officers from switching off the main transformer that supplied power to the town.
The disconnection exercise had been occasioned by unpaid electricity bills that had accrued from 2014.
The incident claimed the life of one of the protesters, while several others sustained various degrees of injuries.
Five police officers also sustained injuries.
After the clash, the ECG office has since been shut down.
But to reduce commercial losses through power theft in the area, ECG has sought the assistance of the security service in its exercise.
Director of Customer Service, Anokye Abebreseh is optimistic that the installation of prepaid meters will ensure the effective collection of revenue.
He therefore urged all residents to cooperate with the ECG staff.
“Just last week we met, a tripartite kind of a committee comprising of Electricity company, National Security and United Krobo Foundation. We met and the agreement is that ECG going to install prepaid meters starting from tomorrow for which all of us have agreed. So, come tomorrow (Tuesday) we are going to deploy our men to the field to start the installation of prepayment meters. We have done a lot of stakeholder engagements so at least for now calm is prevailing so come tomorrow 14th of June we are going to start deployment of prepayment meters,†he saud.
Mr Anokye Abebreseh also mentioned that debts owed by customers in Krobo land from 2018 to 2021 will not be put on the prepaid but a suitable approach will be used to determine how payment will be done.
“Normally the practice is that when you put prepayment meter there you put the debt on the post-paid meter on the prepaid meter so that we will recover whatever debt but in this case we said from 2018 to date we are not going to put it there, and that we will meet customers individually and determine how they should pay the debt.â€
